Denise Van Outen can't wait to kick off her Strictly dancing shoes and spend some time with her daughter

THE actress has been busy taking part in Strictly Come Dancing and is now preparing to head off on tour with the show, but she says she is counting down the days until she can spend quality time with her family.

IT'S going to be Strictly mummy time for Denise van Outen after the dancing show’s big live tour ends.

The 38-year-old came second in last year’s Strictly Come Dancing behind Louis Smith and they – along with a batch of other celebs from the programme – will be waltzing around the country, including Glasgow, this month and in February.

But the former Big Breakfast star is keen to make time for her daughter Betsy, two, before she’s off again doing another one-woman show that could involve even more dancing.

Denise said: “After the tour, I’d quite like to have a rest. I want to have some family time and just be a mummy. I am planning on doing a one-woman show with a limited London run, which will be fun.

“I’ve been offered three shows that all involve dancing, which I’d never have got before doing Strictly because I never used to get the dancing parts.”

With Denise doing Strictly at the end of 2012 and hubby Lee Mead in panto, both were mega busy and are now keen to make it up to their daughter. Between the telly show and the tour, Denise had two weeks off and made sure it was all about little Betsy.

The Strictly runner-up said she was never happier than when they were cuddling and watching movies, such as Scots Pixar movie Brave.

And Denise will make sure Betsy comes to some of the Strictly tour shows after it kicks off tonight in Birmingham.

“I’m going to bring my daughter to some of the dates,” she said. “Michael Vaughan has a daughter the same age – two-and-a-half – so we’ve said we’ll make sure we bring them on the same dates so we can all hang out.”

Her former ladette ways from the 90s peek out for a moment, though, as she added: “But on the other days, I might let my hair down a bit, definitely.”

It’s been a whirlwind for Denise – in the 1990s, she was a household name on The Big Breakfast as well as acting in Where The Heart Is before she moved into West End shows such as Chicago and Rent.

Since 2007, she has made a slow return to television after she was made a judge on Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Any Dream Will Do – a talent show searching for musical stars and also the set where she met her hubby Lee.

She narrates The Only Way Is Essex but was hardly the television force she once was. That is, until Strictly came along.

Now her stock is back to where it used to be, despite being criticised during the show for being a “trained dancer”.

Although whatever she does, Betsy is proud.

Denise said: “Well, she’s a bit too young to really understand it but she loves the sequins and the glitter and the dresses.

“During Strictly we had a kids’ day when we were allowed to bring our children to watch us, and when I came on she said, ‘That’s my mummy!’ really loudly.” There may be some people wondering why Denise would do the tour after doing so well on the show. But after talking to former celebs who’d taken part in the tour, she knew it would be a way of actually enjoying the dancing.

She added: “Robbie Savage said it feels like the prize that you get after weeks of working hard on the show. You get to do it all again without the competitive element.

“The show was so high-pressured in front of the cameras that it will be nice to just go out and dance and feel a bit more relaxed.”

A host of stars will be joining Denise who, with her partner James Jordan, will be dancing the charleston and jive.

The other dancers appearing on stage with her will be 2012’s winner Louis Smith, Dani Harmer, Lisa Riley, Michael Vaughan, Fern Britton and Phil Tufnell.

The judging panel features Len Goodman, Bruno Tonioli and Craig Revel Horwood, who will also direct the arena tour for the third year running. The tour kicks off in Birmingham before moving to Newcastle next week, then to Glasgow’s SECC from next Friday until Sunday, January 27.

But for Basildon girl Denise, the O2 Arena in London will be the thrill of the tour. She said: “Being from Essex, the London dates are quite exciting for me. I’ve been to so many concerts there and I will never get another chance to perform in front of that many people, so I can’t wait.”

She has been rehearsing for the live tour since the start of the new year and is feeling better after the toll the show took on her body.

She said: “I popped my rib out just before the final so I had to have that popped back in. That was quite painful. I got jive whiplash and my knees were always cut and bloody. But I have toned up a lot.”

Denise is also enjoying being back with dance partner James and she admitted she had become good friends with him and his wife Ola. She said: “I haven’t had the chance for us all to go out for dinner with Lee yet but I’m sure we will do it soon.”

But that’s if she has any time at all. After spending quality time with Betsy, it looks like 2013 is already shaping up to be another busy year.

Denise will be performing another solo show co-written with a friend which she has described as “quite Shirley Valentine”.

She will kick start it in London’s West End and then go on tour with it with perhaps another stint at the Edinburgh Fringe – the first since her 2009 show Blondes.

She’ll also appear in new film Run For Your Wife, to be released on Valentine’s Day, with Danny Dyer, Neil Morrissey and Girls Aloud star Sarah Harding.

This year, of course, there will be another batch of celebs for Strictly. But who would Denise like to see?

“I know who I’d love, and I asked him if he’d be up for it. I think David Walliams would be amazing and he’d look brilliant in the ballroom tails because he’s tall and slim,” she said. “But I’ve already asked him and he said he’s too lazy.”

He might claim to be but that’s definitely something you can’t call Denise.